FFmpeg Audio Codecs

[Klagar]

Hi !

I have been exploring a little bit the world of video codecs and containers this last month, and now I want to know a little bit about audio as well...

My question is, is there an audio codec in FFmpeg that you consider generally better than the others ?

Currently the two codecs I use most are libfaac and wma2 ; but recently I updated my FFmpeg to the latest SVN version, and then POOF ! The libvaac ceased working. Don't know why. It gives me an error every time. So I hope to find a replacement, at least until I can find the solution to my problem.

We deal a lot with Xvid, MP4 and WMV videos. Does each of these video codecs have its "preferred" audio counterpart ? Or is there one (or many) that will fit them all quite nicely ?
I'm not looking for the best absolute answer, just something that works reasonably fine. Sound is not my greatest issue for the projects I work on, so versatility takes precedence over any gain of quality that is not remarkable.

So thanks in advance, and tell me if I'm not clear on what I'm looking for, I'll try and be more specific.

Regards !

[El Heggunte]

but recently I updated my FFmpeg to the latest SVN version, and then POOF ! The libvaac ceased working.

AFAIK, latest "well-known" builds of ffmpeg have dropped libfaac,
because of legal issues. Anyway, libfaac is generally regarded as
"quite inferior to" neroaacenc.

[bat999]

If you want to know which codecs are available for your ffmpeg, enter this command:-

ffmpeg -codecs

[Klagar]

Do you think libmp3lame could be regarded as a reasonable choice in general ? So far it's the only audio codec I'm familiar with, and it seems to work with pretty much everything...

What about Vorbis ? Would it work with everything or would it absolutely need to be coupled with Theora video ?

Are there any other you have tried that yielded satisfying results ?

Thanks a lot bat999 for the command, I don't understand I hadn't thought of it myself *shame*...

[budwzr]

I would say Lame is the most widely used audio codec in the world, but that doesn't mean you can always use it in combination with all video.

It depends on the player. VLC is probably the most forgiving and may play weird combinations, but a web browser player may not.

It seems to me that AVC/AAC is rapidly becoming the "universal" format, because it's Mac/PC friendly. The iPhone/iPad only plays this format, YT recoded to AVC/AAC too. AVC/AAC is on the Flip camcorders, most other digicams, and will eventually take over everywhere.

You might as well start there and save some time because you're gonna end up there anyway.

[Ai Haibara]

Minor nitpick: MP3 is the codec; LAME is an encoder. :P

[Klagar]

Nice !
Thanks budwzr. As I had stated earlier compatibility and versatility is more of an issue than quality in what I'm trying to do, so I shall take your advice into account. We are not yet making concrete steps to adapt our products to portable devices such as IPhones, but it will come eventually, and infos like this will be major assets and make us avoid losing a ton of time !

[El Heggunte]

What about Vorbis ? Would it work with everything or would it absolutely need to be coupled with Theora video ?

Vorbis works fine in MKVs (and even in MP4s), with or wthout Theora video.
Only certain Open-Source-Software trolls intend to convince everyone that
"Vorbis + Theora +Ogg" is the future.

[budwzr]

Minor nitpick: MP3 is the codec; LAME is an encoder. :P

True!

[Klagar]

I've tried AAC as a codec, but FFmpeg responded that it was an "experimental" codec and that I should use -strict experimental in my parameters if I am to use it... Unless there's another way, I think I'll have to pass on that one until we encode things for IPods and the like...

That's the problem, I have to find something that works with mp4's, xvid's and mov's ; that is suitable for streamable videos ; and of course that can be read on all platforms without too demanding decoder requirements... For now the mp3 codec works just fine, but I'll have to keep an eye on the sync and potential compatibility issues...

Only certain Open-Source-Software trolls intend to convince everyone that
"Vorbis + Theora +Ogg" is the future.

I've heard a little about it, most people I talk to presently are just ranting... Does anyone know what is objectively happening to it ? Personal points of view aside, is it still a popular project ? Are more or less people still working on it ? Have there been advances with it that definitively made it a competitor (or sunk it) ? I'd like to know how goes this format/codec so far...

[budwzr]

The "flow" is not toward obscure codecs.

I'm an oldtimer Xvid/Lame/Virtual Dub/AutoGK Apple-hater enthusiast, and went for years content as a clam. Then my wife bought an iPhone and asked me to supply her some videos.

Well, I had the choice of making two sets of formats, or getting into H.264 (AVC/AAC).

Now I rarely use anything else, my whole workflow is much simpler, and I have more quality time working with video.

She has an iPad now so we're a 720p happy family